


Why Is The Window Open?

by endlessnightlock (Endlessnightlock)



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Dark!Peeta, F/M, Fantasy elements, Historical A/U, Little House In The Big Woods crossover, more tags to come, not-human Peeta, yes that's what I said I'll admit it's a weird idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:02:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endlessnightlock/pseuds/endlessnightlock
Summary: I've been piddling around with the first part of this story forever so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. I hope it gets the ball rolling and gets the rest of the story ready to come out of my head, I feel like it's stuck in there right now (lol).Based on a horror prompt from Tumblr- "Why is the window open" submitted by JHsgf82
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 52
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The setting for this story is, as I’ve mentioned (but just realized I didn't elaborate on enough), the same as the The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder- post US Civil War, so that would be the 1870’s. It’s much different than modern day- not only dress standards and lifestyle, but parenting choices as well: one of the things I’m looking at here is the idea of drilled-in, immediate obedience from a child to their parent’s demands, and whether or not it’s a good thing.

Why is the window open?

  
  
  
  
  
  


When Katniss was a tiny girl, her father used to lock them all in at night, snug as a bug in a rug in their little log cabin deep in the big Wisconsin woods, inside the protection of their home's thick walls where they would stay safe. 

In the surrounding woods at night (they slept heaven only knew where in the daytime), strange creatures with bodies half-alive but souls utterly dead roamed. The creatures darted in and out of the shadows, hunting for victims to feed their cruel appetites. Night Walkers, they were called, preferred the taste of human flesh, although they would settle for the now few and far between warm-blooded animals left in the woods.

"-now, little Katkin," every night without fail, Pa would quiz her on the steps they must take to keep the cabin safe and secure. The precautions were vital; Katniss knew she must pay attention and answer him promptly. Though the quizzing got monotonous after a while, she was glad for Pa's meticulousness because their cabin had never had a breach; she could rest easy at night because of that. Not all families in the settlement were so fortunate- everyone knew the cautionary tales of young children or the old and senile getting out of their homes at night and never being heard from again.

In maintaining their safety, there was a method they followed- a routine. Never a step skipped.

Step one was a heavy iron bar laid crossways through the hooks fashioned to the doorframe from leftovers salvaged at the covered-wagon dump. 

"What don't we ever do?" Pa would begin, never moving on to step two and question two until Katniss gave him the correct answer.

Not that she prolonged it, no- the nightly conversation always left her with a sick feeling in her tummy, so she made sure to give the right response every time to get the conversation over with as quickly as possible.

"We don't go out at night," Katniss would answer, the words burned into her brain from years of repetition. This nightly routine was rather monotonous, but it was better than having her brains devoured, she supposed. Night Walkers loved brains- at least that's what her cousin Madge always told her.

  
  


"What else?" Pa would prod, as he laced the heavy bolt through the locking latch on their door. 

The lock had come at a hefty price Pa said- it'd cost him five of his bear traps. There were no longer any bears in the woods, of course- they were all taken years ago, now. Katniss couldn't even remember the way a bear looked. Still, the traps remained in high demand among the settlers. A giant, bone-crushing trap had no way of knowing whether it was a bear or a Night Walker stepping into it. 

"If we hear voices, we don't go looking for them," Katniss answered dutifully.

Pa closed the lock. Step two complete.

"Right. And what else?" Pa would say lastly, signaling to Katniss that her nightly drilling was almost over. 

At this point in the conversation, Katniss often found herself frowning. The last question was always the most difficult to answer. For most of the year, especially in the wintertime, the cabin was snug and cozy, locked up tight at night. But in the summer, the heat became oppressive, and they hardly slept at night. But still, she knew the rules. She wasn't going to break them. Katniss didn't want to get gobbled up by a Night Walker.

"We never, ever leave the windows open," she answered, managing to keep the sulky tone out of her voice mostly. Despite the danger, it made her unhappy that she had no choice but to keep everything closed up at night. It didn't seem fair- she'd heard the Walker's couldn't even climb as high as the windows.

She supposed Pa had to be right about keeping the windows closed because he was never, ever wrong. And she wanted to be a good girl, so very badly. It wasn't easy always to be that way, though.

Why couldn't she naturally be a good girl like her cousin Madge, with her cornflower blue eyes and her golden hair like Katniss's Ma and their Aunt Maysilee and Madge's ma? Madge was always obedient and listened, at least in front of their folks. Sometimes she tried to boss Katniss, being older, but that didn't deter from the air of righteousness she wore like a new hair ribbon.

Katniss had always been envious of Madge for one reason or another- no one ever stopped to tell her how pretty she was or admire her twin black braids the way they did Madge's blond ringlets. It made her angry. It wasn't fair- Katniss knew things weren't better just because they were golden. 

Her consolation for looking different from her cousin and her aunts and her ma was Pa. 

Pa would hold her up to the cracked mirror hanging on the cabin wall to look at themselves. Side by side that way, she was able to see how much she looked like him. That made Katniss very happy; she loved her Pa more than anything. 

Her grey eyes were his.

Her dusky skin color was his. 

Her black hair was his.

She was her pa's girl, no doubt about it.

"That's right, half-pint. Now-" he'd say, his eyes lit up because it was time to forget the world's cares outside of their snug cabin walls. It was time for fun. "Who's ready to get the fiddle out?"

And when Pa began to play for her and Ma, the world outside their walls where dangerous creatures roamed the woods seeking whom they would devour, was forgotten for another night.

  
  
  
  


When Katniss was eleven and just a half-grown little thing- still small for her age, Ma began having birthing pains one night. What made the situation critical was that not only was it much sooner than her brother or sister was supposed to come, but Pa had left the settlement right after their noon meal to make the trip to town. 

Once a month, Pa took the wagon and team, driving it through the woods and into town with a load of bolts and frames to trade for supplies. Scavenging was what he spent most of his free time doing, gathering scrap from the wagon dump because those items were always in demand, and they fetched a generous sum from the buyer in town.

By the time Pa would arrive at his destination the night, the store would be closed, so he would pull the wagon inside the shelter of the high walls surrounding the town and sleep there to protect his wares; he would be safe from the Walkers there, at least. 

Pa would get his business done as soon as the store opened in the morning, and then ride back home as quickly as possible to be with them once again. He told Katniss that he didn't like to leave her and Ma alone, but he had to.

Oh, how Katniss wished he'd gone the week before as he'd talked about doing.

When Ma let out her wail of anguish and crumpled into a ball on their cabin's floor, Katniss couldn't help wondering if Pa would make it back in time, not just for Ma but for the baby she knew they'd been hoping to have for years. When it came to delivering a baby, there wasn't anything Katniss knew how to do herself. Darkness was quickly encroaching upon the Big Woods so that she couldn't go after anyone. She was alone in this with her Ma and terrified.

Pa would never forgive her if she let anything happen to Ma or her baby brother or sister. She was supposed to be protecting them.

"Ma!" Katniss rushed to her side, wrapping her thin little arms around her shoulders as best she could. Ma face was wan, her agony as evident to Katniss as the nose on her face. 

After sitting with her a moment, feeling paralyzed with indecision, she realized that Ma couldn't stay on the floor the way she was. Katniss somehow managed to help her to her feet and lead her over to the quilt-covered bed in the corner of the room with Ma's arm draped over her shoulders for support. 

It was slow going, but they made it, and once she had her sitting down, Katniss knelt at her feet and untied her shoelaces. As Ma panted on the bed, Katniss tried her hardest not to yank and pull her shoes off too roughly. Once they were off, she stood to help Ma unbutton her gown.

She found herself stopped by a staying hand.

Katniss looked up into her face then. Ma's eyes widened, bulging with pain. 

It frightened her more than it seemed possible for a little girl to be afraid.

"My sweet girl," Ma managed to get out between teeth clenched so tightly the corners of her mouth were pinched, "I need you to go to Aunt Marjorie's place and bring her back here with you- I think your brother or sister is coming, and I'm going to need help with the birthing. Do you remember-" she began but paused, growing silent while another bout of pain washed over her face. 

Ma squeezed her hand so tightly Katniss thought her joints would burst from the pressure. "Do you remember which way to go?" she finally managed.

Katniss nodded solemnly, trying her hardest not to glance out the window in a way she realized she'd oughten to do. Pa had his rules, and chief among those was to obey Ma in his absence. Checking what lay outside the window before following orders seemed like a contradictory manner to do what one was supposed to do. "Yes," Katniss answered finally, "Pa took me to visit Madge not long ago."

"You'll…" Ma's face finally relaxed, and that raw ache that'd begun in Katniss's chest that was brought on by her momma's suffering slackened a bit. "You'll be alright, just so long as you don't linger on your way there."

"I won't," Katniss swore, fighting valiantly to get her lip tremor under control. She tried very hard not to think of the things Pa had warned her that a Walker would do if they got their hands on a little girl. 

She so badly didn't want to be eaten tonight. There was no way Katniss would linger. "I'll be real quick," she told Ma.   
  


"Good," Ma whispered, leaning back on the bed, "you're going to have to go now. It'll be alright. Just fetch my nightgown for me before you leave, would you?"

  
  
  
  


"My Ma needs your Ma to come right now," Katniss told Madge as she stood huffing and puffing, trying to catch her breath after running the last bit though the woods. She'd become so frightened towards the end of her journey; she'd given up pretending not to be scared. She hoisted up her skirts and ran at top speed in a very un-ladylike fashion, sure she could feel the eyes of the monsters following her every step.

Madge gaped at her younger cousin in disbelief. "Your Ma is crazy! Katniss, it's nearly Walker hour. Nobody goes out at night," she pointed her little chin up in defiance of her cousin's request, "my Ma isn't going  _ anywhere _ with you."

Katniss frowned. 

She didn't think Madge meant to be unkind, but that didn't stop the way she gaped at her cousin as she twirled her blond ringlets around her finger any easier to take. 

"The baby's comin'," Katniss blurted out, "and my Pa's gone to town- the two of us are alone. Ma needs her."

"Katniss?" Uncle Jorgen appeared in the doorway behind Madge. Her uncle was a big, blond Swede whom Aunt Marjorie married him soon after Katniss's Ma and Pa had gotten hitched back East themselves, at least according to Pa. 

Uncle Jorgen had twinkling eyes and rosy cheeks. He was a merry fellow and about her favorite grown man other than her Pa. He always talked to her like he respected her opinion, unlike lots of other folks.

At the moment, Uncle Jorgen's usually twinkly, kind eyes showed grave concern. "What are you doing here so late?" he asked, his thick blond brows climbing his forehead in question.

"It's…" Katniss felt her lip begin to tremble, and she bit it to cease the involuntary gesture. She had to be a big girl now. "My Ma's having birthing pains, and she told me to come and get Aunt Marjorie. We need her, or Ma wouldn't have asked, I promise!"

Uncle Jorgen frowned. He leaned his bulk against the doorframe of the cabin. "Well, darling, Madge's Ma can't come right this moment- she's finishing up her bath. How about if I get the wagon out and we'll all ride over together?" he suggested, backing inside the cabin as he spoke. "Do you want to-"

"But Pa-" Madge whined.

" _ Margret _ ," Uncle Jorgen said, his tone sharper than anything Katniss had ever heard come out of his mouth. 

It did her heart a bit of good to know that maybe Madge wasn't so perfect, after all. 

"That is enough arguing with your father. You will do as I say- we don't tell family  _ no _ ."

"But the Walkers-"

"I said that is enough…" 

Katniss slipped away as Madge and Uncle Jorgen stood arguing with each other. She breathed easier once she was out of hearing distance- in a hundred years, she'd never think of arguing with Pa the way her cousin sassed Uncle Jorgen.

Katniss had gotten a fair way down the wooded trail before she finally took a moment to think about the current situation. The realization was a heart-stopping one; Uncle Jorgen meant for her to ride along in the family's wagon. She wasn't supposed to try making the trek home through the woods, alone. 

It was too late now to return to his place, though. The sky was already getting dark, and Katniss would waste precious time backtracking to Uncle Jorgen's if she turned back now. 

Who was to say she wouldn't miss them, and then what would become of her? 

Katniss figured she'd better keep walking towards home, so she picked up her pace.

As she walked, she swallowed against the sudden thickening in her throat. Her breath became shorter. Fear and adrenaline pumped through her in equal measure, and she began to run.

It was beginning to get dark in earnest- the long shadows brought on by twilight were sprawling, fingering out across the beat-down path through the trees like one of the creatures who could be coming after her any minute now. 

  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Katniss prided herself on being a smart girl; that meant she was pretty self-sufficient to a certain degree when Ma or Pa allowed it. As a smart girl, there was no way to deny the truth of her situation- lost in the woods at night, the one place Pa told her never to go. She couldn’t help thinking if Pa had been home, none of this would’ve happened. 

Pa wouldn’t have sent her out to certain death as Ma had. 

That thought was naughty- so disobedient that Katniss would get switched within an inch of her life for allowing it any room inside her head. But she was alone and indeed about to die, so if she wanted to have disobedient thoughts, that was between her and her maker.

It was dark now; she could no longer pretend it wasn’t, and Katniss heard sounds she’d only caught the barest hint of back when she was safe inside the snug walls of the cabin. The Walkers- inhuman groans and moans were carrying through the trees, the drone not near enough to grab her yet: they seemed to be whispering-  _ soon _ .  _ Soon we’ll be here for you. _

The sounds made Katniss’s tummy pinch tight, and her legs trembled violently. She could no longer pretend she wasn't about to get eaten. Why was this happening to her? She'd tried so hard to be good, but it hadn’t been enough.

Deep in her heart, she knew why. Walkers didn’t care if you were old or young, good or bad. All they knew was their hunger for human flesh and blood. 

And they were almost here. After closing her eyes, Katniss eased backward until she landed against a tall, solid pine. An incredibly loud wail from somewhere close by reached her ears, and she spun around, burying her face in the trunk of the tree. She tried not to let the tears seep from her eyes as her shoulders shook. 

She thought of the branches high above with intense longing; If only she were allowed to wear slacks as Pa wore, she thought, instead of her heavy skirts. Katniss just knew she could climb that tree if she had on slacks. 

To soothe her frightened little heart, Katniss imagined climbing the tree- her hands reaching one over the other in an upward path to safety, far away from this night, and the ground where the Walkers would be here _any_ _moment_. 

She was still staring up at the branches, trying to block the approaching noises from her mind so that she could  _ think- _ when a cold hand landed on her shoulder. 

Time contracted and stood still at the contact. Katniss tried to imagine herself elsewhere, anywhere but here, somewhere happy before she died; home, by the fire at night, playing with Madge in the clearing, watching Ma bake bread- any happy memory was better than being here. It almost worked, but she began to shake so severely her teeth rattled inside her head, and her pulse thundered in her ears. But by some miracle- instead of a pair of rotting, pointed teeth sinking into her skin like she’d prepared herself for, the only onslaught was a voice. A boy’s voice-

_ -Walkers couldn’t talk; Katniss’s _ brain raced the words out to her at hyper-speed.  _ All they could do was moan and groan before they ripped the flesh off of your body or peeled your skull back and feasted on your brain- _

“Oh, I’m sorry I’ve frightened you. You jumped so fearfully,” he said gently, “but I know a place where you can get away-”

Katniss turned around quickly; any mention of the danger surrounding them was enough to shake her out of her terror-induced stupor. “Yes, please,” she said emphatically, taking in her savior with the white-blond hair and pale, pale skin. ”Please get me out of here.”

The boy reached out and took her hand, which was hot and sweaty from the terror running wild through her, in his gentle but cold grasp. His touch and his fair, pleasant face (with the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen) oozed calmness, and the unpleasant feeling lying low in her tummy unbound itself a little. 

”Come on, then- we need to leave now,” he said, tugging on her hand. “Close your eyes. Stay with me, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Katniss’s eyes fluttered shut, lulled into a sense of tranquility entirely out of place on this night. 

“You’re always safe with me,” the boy repeated, his voice smooth as the fabric on Ma’s delicate dress from back East, the one with the hand-carved buttons, the one that if the boy was to be believed, she might live to see again. His fingers curled into hers, and he took hold of her other hand as well. “Here we go,” he said, “just keep your eyes shut tight.” 

And then her feet were lifting off the ground, the earth disappearing from beneath her. Katniss cried out in surprise. “We’re flying!” she exclaimed breathlessly.

Her companion laughed at her surprise. “Why shouldn’t we fly? Anything is possible! Now hold on tight; I don’t want you to fall.” 

Incredibly, as the boy held her hands tightly in his own, the two of them moved straight up in the air at an alarming speed. Katniss kept her eyes squeezed tight; it was the most incredible sensation. 

Maybe it was knowing the alternative, what would’ve happened to her if she’d remained on the ground, but she wasn’t a bit afraid. It was exhilarating- the air rushed around her, her dress fluttering around on all sides. She only had one nagging concern at the moment- the sticks and twigs were scratching her skin and catching on the fabric of her dress.  _ Ma’s going to be so angry at the tears _ .

“You don’t need to fret so much over your folk’s opinion,” the boy quietly said before she’d even completed the thought- as if she’d spoken them out loud. “Mas and Pas aren’t always right, you know.”

Katniss was ready to correct him- it was wrong to disobey your Ma and Pa; everyone knew that. But she didn't have the opportunity to say anything; by then, the two of them began to slow down until they were hovering, suspended in place high above the ground. 

For the first time since she’d taken this fantastic ride with the boy, Katniss began to feel nervous. She hoped he wouldn’t let her fall. Why weren’t they moving yet?

All around her, it seemed, filling every inch of space inside her head, there was a noise like the rustling of a large bird’s wings. Her eyes crept open in curiosity, but she quickly screwed them tightly again. 

The wings didn’t belong to a bird as she suspected; instead, they were part of the boy’s body. Enormous white and grey wings, stretching far apart on either side of him, so large she wondered how the tips hadn’t brushed against her during their flight. 

The boy pulled her against him in a quick move, spinning her around so that her back was to his front; they turned mid-air. He eased them onto the limb protruding from the tree, settling her between his legs and holding her back against his chest. 

Katniss let her eyes slip open again.“Who are you?” She whispered, staring straight ahead, afraid to look down, just as much as she was scared to turn her head and face him.

“My name is Peeta,” he told her, shifting behind her. She could feel him settling against the back of the tree. Something brushed lightly against her leg; she looked down to watch his wings curling around both of them. “They’ll help keep you warm,” he added, almost as an afterthought, as if he’d realized she might not like to be covered by them.

Katniss swallowed roughly. Her brain was whirring, trying to reconcile itself with being in a tree high off the ground with a- what was Peeta? A bird boy?

“You can ask me- it’s alright, you know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, securing her against him, “I know you want to.”

“Ask you what?” 

“You want to know what I am.” Peeta pulled her even tighter until they were so close she could feel his chest rising and falling as he breathed in and out. “That’s better- don’t want you to fall out of the tree, ” he added. 

_Please_ _don’t_ _let_ _me_ _go_ , Katniss thought, relaxing her shoulders against him because there was nowhere else to go. “Do you _want_ to tell me what you are?” she asked timidly, not wanting to upset him. That was foolish, though; Peeta was the one who’d brought up the subject in the first place.

He sighed, his breath rushing out against her neck in an icy swell.  _ How could everything about him feel so cold while she felt so warm in his arms, and yes, even safe with him? _ Something about this strange, winged boy made her feel like she’d known him much longer. “I do, but it will have to be our little secret,” he told, voice low. “You can’t tell anyone. No one can know- especially not your Ma or Pa.”

Katniss turned her head so he couldn't see her expression, scowling to herself in confusion. It was naughty to keep things from Ma or Pa. But while she wasn’t too sure about the things he said, then again, Peeta had rescued her when he could’ve just left her on the ground to be eaten up by the Walkers. 

So if he asked her to keep his secret, what business was it of hers to question him?

“Why can’t they know?” She asked, the words slipping out unbidden. Peeta seemed deep in thought for a time; he remained silent for so long, she didn’t think he would ever answer. 

It surprised her when he did. “It’s just that- they wouldn’t understand. So, let’s say that’s enough of that talk. Are you comfortable?”

Katniss still had questions, of course, she did, but instead of asking them, she shifted on the bough. “I am comfortable enough, Peeta,” she told him, trying out his name on her lips, reminding herself that she ought to be grateful for being rescued instead of asking so many questions. “Thank you for saving me,” she said timidly.

“I’ll always be here to save you. Katniss,” Peeta said. 

She closed her eyes because of his voice and his sturdiness, and the feel of his wings encircling the two of them made her feel almost as cozy as she would be in her own bed.

Katniss never did ask Peeta what he was.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


It came as a surprise to Katniss that she got any sleep that night they spent high up in the treetops; there was her fear of the Walkers, but more than that, she was worried about her family now that the shock of her current situation was wearing off in the daylight. She hoped Ma and the baby were alright: she couldn’t help feeling like things would be her fault if something happened to them. She hoped her Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Jorgen, and Madge made it to her house safe. 

She hoped everyone wasn’t too concerned for her. She wished there was a way to let them know she was safe.

Daylight was just peeking over the tops of the trees when Peeta stirred behind her. “Awake?” he asked, his voice a little froggy from not speaking in awhile.

Katniss nodded.

“Are you ready to get down then?” he asked. 

Somehow, in the middle of the night, he’d warmed up against her body; the two of them had slept like kittens curled up in a pile to stay warm, she decided. Katniss was glad she could repay Peeta that little bit, at least, for saving her life. He must get tired of being cold.

“Is it safe now?” Katniss asked, trying to stretch a little without really moving any. Her whole body was stiff and achy from sitting curled up on the branch for hours last night; her legs were numb from disuse, and her feet hurt.

“Yes, they’re gone now,” he said, “they won’t come back.” Katniss startled then, caught off guard when out of the blue, he withdrew his wings from around them, shaking them out in a flurry of movement and sound before retracting them closer to his body. Peeta must’ve anticipated her reaction because his arms squeezed her even tighter in response to her flinch. “It’s alright- I’ve got you.”

Katniss was nervous in a different way this morning than she’d been last night. It was scary to be so out of control, relying on this Peeta for everything. 

The light of a new day painted things differently. It’d been easier in the dark not to question what had happened. Now, faced with the reality of sitting high above the ground, in a tree, in the arms of a boy with sooty angel wings like angels in the Bible stories Pa used to tell her at night, there was no escape from the almost-unreal evidence before her eyes. 

“Did you hear them last night?” Peeta asked softly. 

He meant the Walkers.

”Yes.” she answered, shivering at the memory. The inhuman wails and moans had been every bit as bad as she had thought they would, especially when she realized the lot of them had gathered at the foot of the tree last night. 

Although Katniss hadn’t been able to see their rotting bodies from her vantage point high in the air, in the dark, she knew they were lurking there, waiting for her to fall.

Now, she twisted her body so that she could look over her shoulder and see Peeta’s face. 

His expression was serene, but his concern for her welfare was evident. His eyes met hers, and he smiled. It made her feel warm, even with that icy pale shade. There was a hint of shyness there too: he hoped that wouldn’t last, now that the two of them were friends. 

Whatever Peeta was, she was glad he came to her rescue. Even if she wouldn’t have been eaten by some miracle, she hadn’t had to spend the night alone. 

Katniss leaned forward and kissed his soft, round cheek. 

“Thank you,” she said, watching the way his eyes widened, “for saving me.”

* * *

  
  
  
  


Katniss made her way through the trees towards the cabin; when she was near, she picked up her skirts and ran that last bit of the way home, now that the clearing where was in sight. 

She was sick with worry. Her stomach was churning, and her heart felt lodged in her throat; she was so anxious to get back to Ma and see how things had turned out while she was gone. The new baby would be here, and she wondered if it was a boy or a girl. 

There was a piece of Katniss hoping for a boy so that she wouldn’t have any competition for Pa’s love; everyone knew how fathers felt about their daughters. Nothing in the world beat his twinkly grey eyes and musical voice- Pa was her best friend, and she was selfish when it came to his attention. 

Katniss wondered how she would ever keep such a big secret from Ma and Pa, but she knew she had to. She’d promised Peeta she would. 

After returning her safely to the ground, Peeta had folded his wings up again where she couldn’t see them. Taking her hands in his, he looked her dead in the eye and made her swear not to tell a soul. When Katniss began to feel sad, thinking she wouldn’t see Peeta again, he interrupted her train of thought. “I’ll be there when you need me, Katniss,” Peeta’d promised her. “Just leave the window open. I’ll come.”

She was horrified at the suggestion. Didn’t he know the Walkers would come in that way at night? Peeta had to understand. Leaving the windows open would never do. “But Pa says I can’t-”

Peeta sighed, and her words halted; it was a big sound coming from a boy who looked no older than her own eleven years. “And like I said, Mas and Pas don’t know everything. You’ll be safe from the Walkers. I promise.” Before she could protest, he released her hand, pointing her in the direction of home. “Trust me.”

At his urging, Katniss took a few steps, walking a little distance before stopping in her path to turn around and look back for him. When she did, she realized Peeta was long gone. She wasn’t surprised, so she kept walking. 

But now- Katniss was in sight of her family’s cabin, the one she thought she’d never see again. She could weep with joy.

Just a little further to go, and she would be home.

  
  
  


. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think, love to hear from you guys. I’m endlessnightlock on Tumblr also if you want to stop by.


	3. Outtake- Seven Years Earlier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is actually a drabble I posted on Tumblr today, a prequel I wrote from a prompt request for "He's only four years old!" It seemed like a good opportunity to delve further into what Peeta is exactly in this story's realm. If the wording is too vague, you can feel free to ask any questions in the comments section.
> 
> So what you're seeing is a flashback. I debated posting it on its own and making it part of a series, but ultimately I did not due to its short length. This chapter takes place seven years before Chapters One and Two.

Peeta perched his body on the upper-most, roundest boulder in contemplation, the stone that served as a dome to the mountainside cave they called their home. He and the family stayed in the mountains, high above civilization and prying eyes- as much as the Mellarks loathed isolation from their neighbors.

It was all because of him, of course. They had to keep Peeta hidden away from the world.

After a brief moment spent indulging the tiny thrill that came from knowing one could tumble down the rocky terrain at any moment and bust one’s brains out until they spattered all over the rocks, Peeta settled back on his haunches. He shuffled a bit unconcernedly until he achieved that perfect balance of torso and limbs and wings he took such pleasure in finding. 

Frankly, it wouldn’t matter if he fell and bashed every bone on the rocks or if he remained in place. Either way, he would be whole. 

You could not kill the harbinger of death itself, you see.

This summit, away from the eyes of the humans who cared for him, was his favorite spot. Here Peeta could tune out the woman and man who continually bickered and whispered over what exactly they should do about him. Here he could forget the bigger, stronger sons who still cowered in fear when Peeta passed their way.

Up here, alone, he could train his focus on the girl. Katniss, who was still small in form like he was. Katniss with the long black braids and voice of a bird, like her father.

The voice of a bird. Funny. Peeta’s sooty-grey wings spread wide, trembling as he thought of her- thoughts of Katniss were the most pleasant way he found to pass his time in the day. She was entirely human and fragile, but still, she was his. 

At night there was no time for thoughts of Katniss, for Peeta was busy then. At night he took off flying over the trees and further down into the land where the Night Walkers roamed- the monsters he’d let loose upon his arrival. 

He remembered it well, the evening he passed through the impossible constriction of the woman’s womb and birth canal and into the world. 

The next moment, where Peeta drew his first inhalation of human air (the first of many worthless breaths that would never replicate the warmth he’d only thus far experienced cocooned inside the woman’s womb), the reanimation of the corpses began. 

The Night Walkers had arrived.

It didn’t take long for their reign of destruction to begin, for the Walkers had no graves to burst out of, no hard-packed dirt to tunnel through in their plight to reach the earth’s spoils of living man and beast. 

Their bodies weren’t those of the long-dead and buried. 

The Walkers were born from the thousands of corpses piled high on the edges of the Southern States’ battlefields, momentarily forgotten while the living men carried on, trying to kill each other. The young nation’s great sins might have launched the War, their reckoning, but Peeta’s arrival and the army of the undead would bring about the land’s final destruction. 

But not yet- destruction wouldn’t occur until he had his girl with him- his Katniss.

Far below, Peeta heard the woman and the man talking. They were whispering again, but foolish humans they were; they still should’ve known he could listen to them speak.

“Brahm, I’ve had enough,” the woman- Mother she’d told Peeta to call her, was on the edge of hysteria. 

The fear in her voice made Peeta smile. The woman was so angry yet so weak. 

He liked that about them- how pliable this family was. So easy to manipulate- how revoltingly human.

“We have to get rid of him,” Mother said

“Matilda, it would be a death sentence. He’s four years old! Peeta is your son,” the man called Father begged. “Have you no compassion for him?”

“He is not my son,” she seethed. “My sons- they cower in fear whenever that, that thing you seem to think is your flesh and blood goes near them. Peeta is a monster.”

Well, the woman had that much right, at least, Peeta mused. Her next words made him cover his mouth to hide his laughter- Mother was incredibly astute today. 

Maybe she should go into the human encampments at the forts and begin telling fortunes. It was an honest trade, and she was entirely accurate on every prediction she’d made so far.

“That icy-cold, winged thing up there?” Mother spat the word. “He will kill us, all of us, one day. You watch.”

Peeta heard Father try to protest, whether out of fear of retribution from him or something else entirely, but Mother interrupted again.

“And I hope he kills you last- so you can see what your pig-headedness has brought down on our family.”

Peeta tutted under his breath. The woman made yet another correct prediction. The man called Father would certainly not be the first to go- no, Peeta had already reserved that place for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little House In The Big Woods was the first in the Little House on The Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The series was an autobiographical look at her life. LHITBW took place in 1871, six years after the American Civil War ended in 1865. Charles Ingalls, Laura's father, did not serve.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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